Derrick



Aug. 24, 1926. 1,596,945

, c. E. RANNEY DERRICK Filed Dec. 24, 1925 2 Sheets-Shed 1 Aug. 24, 1926. 1,596,945

C E. RANNEY DERRICK Filed Dec. 24 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 grime/mica:

" compression greater than thecompressioni Patented Aug. 24, 1926.

. UNIT ED STATES 0mm E. RANivEY, or TULSA, OKLAHOMA.

DERRICK.

.Application fi1e d'December24 1925., Serial No. 77,527.

The invention relatesto' improvements in I derricks, used particularly for the. drilling of oil and gas wells, athough, of course, applicable in any field where such a structure is found to have utility.

It is an object of the inventionto provide a derrick of the type having wooden legs and girths, inwhich the girth is of rectangular form inQcross-section, withv its elongated side ma horizontal plane and 18 adapted to be braced so that the entire derrick structureis adequately. supported,

In the prior art it has been customary, in

the construction of wooden derricks, to provide a girth of elongated rectangular form in cross-section with the elongated side in a vertical plane. With these structures, itv has been impossible to adequately brace or, reinforce the girths against bending in ahorizontal plane as brace rods cannot. be

employed to extend through the interior. of the derrick-as such rods would interfere.

with the operation of the drilling tool, and naturally it-is not feasible to brace these girths by supports extraneous of and located eXteriorly of the derrick. Naturally, this practice hasled to the use of girths of material dimensions because'from an engineering standpoint no girth will stand any that can be resisted by the thin portion of the girth. These girths, have therefore been of greater dimensions than is necessary because of the absence of anyade'quate means to reinforcethe thin portion of the girth.

The present invention broadly comprehends the provision of a derrick in which agirth of a mmlmum size is employed in which .the elongated side of'the girth is disposed in a horizontal :plane so'thatthis girth may bev adequately braced from the derrick to permit its thinnest portion to stand just as much compression strain as the thickest portion thereof. These'girths r are braced by devices attached-to the leg braces of the derrick so as to prevent strains and stresses placed on the derrick from bendin the thin portion of each horizontal girth. y-

The invention further comprehends a .vided with a struck up ear 6 fora similar 1 fastening bolt. The'flanges of the brackets are provided with aiigned openings 8 novel means for securingithe'endsof girths to the legs of the derrick.

In the accompanying drawings, 1

the

Fig. 1 representg a View of the as assembled, .7 a I togther inv any approved manner.

.i cure t e-gi'rths in position.

Fig. 2 is a detailed view of'the supporting means 'for the ends of the girths,

Fig. 3 is a detailed view of the girth with itssupporting braces, and p Fig. :1 is a sectional view of the apparatus.

F ig. 5 is a modifiediform. Referring now more particularly to the drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate corresponding parts, .the numeral 1 designates the supporting legs of the der- Irick. .These legs are constructed from wooden beams ofthe desired thickness, the endsof the. adjacent beams being secured As is customary inv derricks of this structure, these beams converge as they extend from the base of the derrick, and at their upper ends support the usual mechanism around which the operating devices for the drill or casing lines pass.- At one side of the derrick there is the usualcalf wheel, while on the opposite side thereof the usual bull wheel is provided.

For supporting the legs 1, there is pro- "vided a plurality of girths 2. As .show'nin detail in Figs. 3 and 4, these girths are of elongated rectangular form in cross-section with their elongatedsides disposed in a horizontal-plane.- With the standard form of derrick, the girths are of 3 X 10 inches in cross-sectional area. It will be observed that "the elongated or .10 inch side of the girth is disposed in a horizontal plane. This is of great importance for reasons as Wlll here- .lnafter appear; The-girths are supported to the legs 1 of the derrick. The supporting means for each girth is the same, and a description of one will suflice for all. As shown inFlg. 2, each support comprises a bracket 3 which is ametal casting or stamping. It is 'offangular formation so as to fit two sides of thecleg 1. That portion of the bracket fitting each side of the leg is provided with upper and lower flangesl: separated a sufiicient distance to receive therebetween the girth 2. The upper flange of one ofthe' brackets is struck up to provide the ear-5 having a suitable bolt receivin 0 enin therein while'theo osite'side of the adjoining bracket is likewise prothrou h which retaining bolts pass to seof said corner posts.

An angle corner plate 9 fits around two rick and the corner plate *9; This serves toretain the assembly in position. Fastening bolts also enter the'openings 8 in the flanges of thebrackets to unite the girths to said brackets. The angle corner plates also have the openings 13 therein receiving the inturned ends of brace rods 14 that extend between the corner posts 1 of the derrick as shown in Fig. 1. These brace rods are provided with turn buckles 14 by which they may be tightened and extend diagonally between the corner posts intersecting at a pointsubstantially intermediate a pair These rods are constructed of metal of inch in diameter more or less and serve to very adequately support the legs of the brace.

It will, of course, be appreciated that a girth is only as strong as its weakest section or part. The girths 2, as shown, are preferably formed of timber 3 x 10 inches in cross-section. The elongated portion of the girth will, of course, stand a substantial amount of compression. In order to make the thin portion of the girth stand an equal amount of compression, that is, the side thereof that is three inches in diameter, I have provided bracing means for this portion of the girth so that the compression will not serve to bend it. This permits the use of a girth of a minimum thickness,

making the scatford light in structure and inexpensive to manufacture. As shown in Fig. 4, a U-bolt 15 fits around each girth 2. This U-bolt preferably engages the girth at a point near its center. Each U-bolt is re l tained in position by a washer 16 and nuts 17 It will be understood that each girth has a supporting brace, and inasmuch as each girth is the same in construction a description of one will sufiice for all.

One of the horizontal legs of each U-bolt is formed with a loop as indicated by the reference character 18 intermediate its end to receive the girth brace 19. This brace is constructed from metal, preferably metal tubing, having a flat end 20 which is fitted over the U-bolt and engages the portion 18 thereof. The upper end of each brace is secured to the leg supporting or bracing irons at the point at which a pair of said irons intersect. supporting irons or leg braces by a 'U-bolt 22 which encircles said supporting irons or braces 14 at their point of intersection, the legs of the U-bolt passing through openin s in the flattened end. of tie brace wln'c The brace is secured to said is secured to the U-bolt by the nuts 24. It is therefore apparent that the brace is adequately supported by the heavy bracing or supporting rods 14 extending between the legs 1 and-that this brace in turn supports the thin portion of the girth 2 so that compression will not bend this girth at its weakest point. It will be furthermore ap- 'preciat-ed that by using the brace in this manner it does not interfere in any way with the operation of the tool and that its use permits a wooden girth of a minimum size to be employed which will have a strength at least equal to a substantially larger square girth, or a girth of a much greater size and cost.

In Figure 5 of the drawings, I have shown a slightly modified form of the invention in which a U-bolt 25 passes through an opening in the lower flattened end of the supporting brace, the U-bolt then passing through suitable holes in the girth 2. This U-bolt is secured in position by the nuts 26. Obviously, the upper end of the brace in this modified form engages the bracing irons or rods 14 of the derrick.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

1. In a derrick, the combination with suitable legs, of bracing devices extending between the adjacent legs, girths of elongated rectangular form in cross-section connected with said legs, said girths having their elongated sides in a horizontal plane.

2. In a derrick, the combination with suitable legs, of bracing devices extending between the adjacent legs, girths of elongated rectangular form in cross-section con- 'nected with said legs, said girths having their elongated sides in a horizontal plane, and bracing elements connected with said bracing devices and said girths to brace the vertical sides of said girths.

8. In a derrick, the combination with suitable legs, bracing devices interposed be tween said legs, girths extending between said legs, each girth being of elongated rect angular form in cross-section, with the elongated side thereof in a horizontal plane, and bracing means for each girth connected with said bracing devices and with the girth to prevent a vertical bending ofthe girths.

4. In a derrick, the combination with suitable legs. bracing devices extending between spaced adjacent legs, girths 0t elongated rectangular form having relatively short and long sides in cross section connected with said legs with the 'long'side of each girth disposedsubstantially in a horizontal plane, and bracing elements connecting said girths with said bracing de vices. I

In testimony whereof I afii'x my signa= tare.

CLARK 

